Keeping Time

Keeping Time: Dialogues on music and archives in Honour of Linda Barwick explores current issues in ethnomusicology and the archiving and repatriation of ethnographic field recordings.

The 19 chapters by 36 authors consider archiving practices as a site of interaction between researchers and cultural heritage communities; cross-disciplinary approaches to understanding song; and the role of musical transcription in non-Western music.

This volume is international in scope with case studies with Indigenous and minority peoples from Papua New Guinea, China, India, the Torres Strait and mainland Aboriginal Australia; the latter being the focus of the majority of chapters.

Topics include the revival of songs from early written sources, creation of new songs based in old genres, the concept of “sing” in other languages, spirits as the origin of song knowledge, and how to manage ethnographic records over time. Keeping Time approaches Indigenous practices from a range of disciplines, including linguistics, history and performing arts, as well as Indigenous Studies, cultural revitalisation (including reclamation of Indigenous languages), Indigenous knowledge and application to climate change.

Offered in honour of Emeritus Professor Linda Barwick, the founder of the Indigenous Music, Language and Performing Arts series, Keeping Time offers a diverse range of opinions on ethnographic research practices and their value to society.

There are 3 audio examples available to be listened to here: